SPOKANE-- The owners who abruptly closed 12 Papa John s Pizza stores inEastern Washington and North Idaho Tuesday have run into financial trouble before.
KREM 2 News dug deeper into the owners pasts to find they owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Kentucky bank.
North Country Pizza is the franchise that shut down the pizza stores, and it owes more than a quarter of a million dollars. Lawyers have yet to explain why the money is owed.
North Country Pizza owns 12 stores in Spokane, Pullman, Yakima, Kennewick, Richland, Wenatchee, Coeur d Alene, and Moscow -- all closed since Tuesday.
Spokane Superior Court filings show North Country Pizza is deep in debt. Back in 2007, King Southern Bank sued North Country Pizza. In 2008, the bank obtained a $292,000 judgment from North Country Pizza and owner Kevin Maines. Lawyers representing King Southern Bank couldn t tell KREM 2 News how the franchise owner wound up owing so much to the bank. But they say they are unaware of any payments made since September 2009.
Papa John s corporate officials say they haven t been able to track down North Country Pizza.
Dozens of employees have yet to receive their last paychecks from the owners of Papa John s stores statewide. Some of those employees have been working there for years.
Former Papa John s manager Angela says she s madover the way things were handled, but she feels for the owner and his family. Employees say it will be rough for a while, but they think the owner may have it worst.
The company is looking for someone to buy the stores as soon as possible.
In the meantime, Pizza Hut has told some of the managers they want to hire them.
